Top 10 Hollywood Rumors That Turned Out To Be TRUE

A lot of movie stars try to keep the limelight away from their personal and romantic lives, which we totally understand. But that unfortunately leads a lot of onlookers to jump to conclusions. In 2021, “In the Heights” actor Anthony Ramos was reportedly spotted getting chummy with an unidentified woman at a club, despite ostensibly being engaged at the time to his “Hamilton” co-star Jasmine Cephas Jones. This story was broken by a TikTok user, leading to speculation that Ramos was cheating on Jones or that the pair was no longer together. Just a day later, however, a followup story broke that the two had indeed called it off some time prior.

In 2006, actors Dean McDermott and Tori Spelling married after meeting on the Lifetime movie, “Mind Over Murder.” They’ve since had five children, but began to undergo public personal struggles starting in 2013. In December of that year, Us Weekly broke a story that McDermott had been unfaithful to Spelling. McDermott entered rehab the following month, followed by numerous other rumors regarding their troubled marriage. In April 2014, Lifetime debuted a docu-series titled “True Tori,” which addressed McDermott’s cheating in the first episode. The couple stayed together in the coming years, though were said to be undergoing a trial separation as of June 2022.

At this point, the life and times of Charlie Sheen have been well documented. But back in the 1990s, much of it was the subject of speculation. In 1993, a woman named Heidi Fleiss was arrested for acting as a madam, operating a ring of sex workers in Los Angeles. Though Fleiss has been historically tight-lipped about her clientele, one name that leaked early was that of “Hot Shots!” actor Charlie Sheen. This was due to a traveler’s check with Sheen’s name on it being found on Fleiss’s person at the time of her arrest. In 1995, Sheen testified at Fleiss’s trial, confirming he’d used her service over two dozen times.

Whereas some actors try to hide a breakup, others try to hide an entire, six-year relationship. Such was the case with Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes, who reportedly dated from 2013 to 2019. In fact, rumors arose about them from the jump, but consistent repudiations kept news stories from presenting it as fact. Foxx and Holmes were even photographed holding hands on multiple occasions, but they continued to deny the claims. It wasn’t until the pair split that the public got any confirmation they were ever together. It must take a lot to hide a relationship for half a dozen years, but good for them for keeping their private lives private as much as possible.

Ben Affleck has had a much-publicized romantic life over the years, from Jennifer Lopez to Jennifer Garner and back to Lopez. But it was a lesser-known woman who got the rumor mill going. In 2015, Affleck and Garner announced their separation. That same year, reports began to circulate that Affleck had also entered a relationship with their children’s nanny. Affleck threatened to file a lawsuit over the allegations at the time, but didn’t. In 2016, a year before the actors officially filed for divorce, Garner confirmed the tryst. However, Garner also claimed the two were already separated before she learned of the development.

We’d like to think we’re past speculating on someone’s sexuality, but we definitely weren’t back in the 1990s. Best-known at the time for her self-titled sitcom, Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian in 1997. It was even punctuated by her character coming out herself on her show. However, reports of the episode were leaked well in advance, leading many publications to question whether DeGeneres herself was planning on coming out. Others meanwhile wondered if the whole thing was merely a ratings ploy. Just a couple weeks prior to the episode’s airing, however, DeGeneres put the story to bed by indeed confirming her sexuality.

What started as a playful cartoon gag became eerily shrewd in hindsight. In the mid-2000s, vague rumors about actor Kevin Spacey’s sexuality and dealings within made their way to the “Family Guy” writers room. In response, the show featured a bit in a 2005 episode whereby baby Stewie fabricates having escaped from Spacey’s basement. The clip began resurfacing in 2017, when Spacey was accused of having sexually harassed fellow actor Anthony Rapp when the latter was underage. Several others have since come out with similar accusations, effectively halting Spacey’s career and tarnishing his public image.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tenure as the Governor of California came to an end in 2011. What also came to an end that year was his relationship with Maria Shriver. Though their divorce wouldn’t be finalized for another ten years, what prompted the split was the discovery that Schwarzenegger had fathered a child in 1997 with their housemaid, Mildred Baena. Schwarzenegger wasn’t aware of this until the boy started taking on his distinctive features, at which point he started providing financial support. Rumors regarding the child were finally put to bed in May of 2011 when Schwarzenegger confirmed the story.

Hollywood power couples are nothing new, but few have marked the 21st century quite like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. From 2000 to 2005, Pitt was married to Jennifer Aniston of “Friends” fame, but their split sparked gossip about he and Jolie, his “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star. Rumors had already circulated that Pitt and Jolie had gotten more than friendly on set, leading many to question if the timelines overlapped. Parties involved denied the claims, but in 2008, after Brangelina was well established, they confirmed they indeed fell in love on set, despite reaffirming there was no actual infidelity.

The worst-kept secret in Hollywood was also one of the most egregious. In 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker published exposés on Harvey Weinstein and his so-called “casting couches,” with dozens of women accusing the movie producer of various forms of assault going back decades. Weinstein’s shady practices were something of a dark joke in Hollywood beforehand, with numerous celebrities alluding to his skeezy ways. As of today, more than a hundred women have come forward against Weinstein, leading to his arrest in 2018 and his sentencing in 2020 to twenty-three years in prison.